An independent Alberta could abolish income and sales taxes.
Claimed by: Alberta Prosperity Project proposals
False: False as written according to the settled evidence. How we rate.
Summary
As a sovereign state Alberta could legally set whatever taxes it wanted, so the claim is not wrong as a matter of law. The verdict rests on fiscal sustainability, not legality: eliminating income and sales taxes while funding a country is not realistic. A new Alberta state would have to pay for everything Ottawa now covers in the province, including a military, pensions, border services, and many programs, on top of provincial spending. Personal and corporate income taxes are by far the largest revenue source, and Alberta already has no provincial sales tax. Removing income tax would erase well over half of available revenue, forcing either a new sales tax, large spending cuts, or heavy borrowing. The claim is misleading because it presents a legally possible move as if the lost revenue would not have to be replaced.
Evidence
An independent Alberta would have to assume federal responsibilities such as defence, pensions and other programs, greatly increasing the spending it must finance from its own revenue.
Independence-cost analyses note that separatist plans cover taxation, migrating federal services, pensions and defence, but the figures used are often shown to be far too low to balance.